After Christ-y and her daughter Sarah were given the heave-ho last week on Dance Moms, Abby decides to take her chances with another member of her Select Ensemble team.

Enter new dance mom, Loree, an owner of two successful dance studios in her own right, and her daughter Jade.

True to form, Abby pits Jade against Chloe, who seems to always compete against the Select Ensemble team, in the solo division - but in a surprise turn of events, Abby decides not to use the piece she’s been choreographing in her head for weeks.

Watch Dance Moms Season 4 Episode 22 Online

The reason for this unthinkable decision? The girls will be attending a new dance competition, Imagine Dance Challenge, in Woodbridge, VA on Dance Moms Season 4 Episode 22 and Studio Bleu, one of the best dance studios in Virginia, will be present.

Simply put, Abby doesn’t have faith that the girls can bring home first place against such powerhouse competition. And her self-proclaimed controversial piece deserves nothing less than first!

Holly, with glamorous side part in tow, says it best. This week, the girls will be performing “I’m Not Sure” in the “I Don’t Know” category in the theme of “We’re Doing This on the Fly.”

With three days until the competition, Abby must put together some choreography on the fly. Searching for her theme, Abby asks the girls to improv their phobias for her. But when mega pop-star Mack-Z steps up to the plate, the pressure gets to her and she is unable to perform, instead succumbing to a fit of tears.

This makes Abby lol, which is totally and completely awful, but both Melissa and Abby think Abby did Mackenzie a service, teaching her how to grow a backbone in the face of ridicule. Riiiiiight. That’s why Abby laughed - to teach her a lesson.

Sticking to this notion, Abby decides to bench Mackenzie from the group routine, now titled “There’s Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself.”  Or in Abby’s case, there’s nothing to fear but Studio Bleu.

Self admittedly afraid of losing, Abby takes full advantage of Mackenzie’s crying to bench her. By cutting Mackenzie from the group routine, Abby is able to enter the girls into the teen category, hopefully eliminating the prospect of competing against Studio Bleu’s junior team.Epic fail! Abby’s strategic plan backfires when Studio Bleu enters in the teen category. 

Trying to get non-confrontational (at least up until that point) Loree to step up to the “Dance Mom” moniker, Holly wants Loree to convince Abby to put Mackenzie back into the routine so the girls can compete in their rightful place – juniors.

But Abby, who also has a fear of admitting wrongs, stands her ground. With the girls up against girls much older than them, tension is at an all time high.

While in final rehearsals, Chloe accidentally runs into Maddie, which of course leads to an overreaction from Abby, which ultimately always leads to Christi speaking up. Speaking of which…Christi seemed extra cranky and combative this week, no?

Anyway, at the competition, Jade’s acrobatic solo, “Far East,” is short and technically sound.

But just in case it happens to not get first, Loree, still learning the art of being a Dance Mom, makes sure to give excuses for why Jade might not win. Jade hasn’t performed an acro piece since she was eight! And besides, the judges aren’t really fans of acro routines.

Those may not be the real reasons Jade winds up getting third, but that’s what Loree’s sticking to, threatening to leave Abby’s studio, and finally cementing her role as a certified Dance Mom. After all, her daughter, just like every other Dance Mom’s, has quite the reputation to uphold.

Chloe, who got little attention from Abby this week, comes in sixth to Jade’s third place finish, but Abby appears disinterested.

All of her attention is on the group routine, a beautifully choreographed contemporary routine performed with power and emotion. Alas, the judges are more impressed with Studio Bleu’s number, awarding it first to ALDC’s second. 

If only Abby had let the girls compete in the junior division or even used that supposedly amazing controversial piece, things might have turned out differently. Only the dance gods know.